Tsunamis in the Indian Ocean

CJvR · Post by **CJvR** » 2004-12-28 09:12am

Indonesia have upped their estimates to 27.000 raising the totals to over 50.000 - Sri Lanka and Thailand have warned that the totals might be much higher than the current figures.

PainRack · Post by **PainRack** » 2004-12-28 09:37am

I wish I was back in the military........ any relief aid conducted by the RSAF would have to go through AMC and then I would at least know something of what we're doing.........

The scale is just unimaginable. And frankly, I'm surprised Singapore got off so lightly, considering its the holiday season right now. As it is, there are only 5 Singaporeans dead and less than 20 missing.

The Duchess of Zeon · Post by **The Duchess of Zeon** » 2004-12-28 09:41am

Magnitude of diaster rapidly growing in Indonesia

Emergency workers who reached Aceh province at the northern tip of Indonesia's Sumatra island found that 10,000 people had been killed in a single town, Meulaboh, said Purnomo Sidik, national disaster director at the Social Affairs Ministry.

Another 9,000 were confirmed dead so far in the provincial capital, Banda Aceh, and surrounding towns, amid unconfirmed reports that other towns along Aceh's west coast had been demolished, he said.

In Sri Lanka, the toll also mounted significantly. Around 1,000 people were dead or missing and feared dead from a train that was flung off its tracks when the gigantic waves hit. Rescuers pulled 204 bodies from the train's eight carriages _ reduced to twisted metal _ and cremated or buried them Tuesday next to the railroad track that runs along the coastline.

The death toll in Sri Lanka will probably reach 25,000 (or more)--1,000 are probably dead in that single train and I wouldn't be surprised if more grisly discoveries like that are made soon enough. 10,000 people in Meulaboh are dead out of a population of 35,700 are dead. That means that nearly 30% of the population of Meulaboh was killed. At least one out of every fifteen people in the city of Banda Aceh is dead and the figure might be as high as one out of six. There are still 30,000 people unaccounted for in the Andamans and Nicobars, and much of the coastal area around Meulaboh has not been reached yet, with countless villages apparently having simply vanished. There are also large numbers of people missing in other countries (and regions of India), and Burma of course refuses to release any figures.

Damaramu · Post by **Damaramu** » 2004-12-28 10:05am

They're reporting around 44,000 dead now.

Advocate · Post by **Advocate** » 2004-12-28 10:11am

Speaking as someone who actually saw that wave coming in......

It was truly the most awesome sight of Nature's fury I have ever seen. I was at a relative's house up a hill, having lunch when it hit at 1215 hours Sunday local time. Just spent the last two days helping out with the relief efforts since I myself was not directly affected. The wave itself was about 50 - 60 feet high, and it pretty much wiped out our beach areas, up to maybe 1 kilometre inland. No major buildings knocked down, but many of the smaller beachside houses and villages were pretty much wiped out.

Current confirmed death toll is about 40, still about 60+ people missing. Gonna try to get some rest now. Tired as hell, and I've seen enough dead bodies to last me a lifetime.

Fuck.

Soontir C'boath · Post by **Soontir C'boath** » 2004-12-28 10:23am

From Recent Article wrote:But governments insisted they couldn't have known the true danger because there is no international system in place to track tsunamis in the Indian Ocean, and they could not afford the sophisticated equipment to build one.

And now paid in lives for the lack of it.

CaptainChewbacca · Post by **CaptainChewbacca** » 2004-12-28 10:43am

Because tsunamis are so rare, they never saw the need to build one.

The foolish man built his house upon the sand.

Stravo · Post by **Stravo** » 2004-12-28 10:50am

Fox News last night when reporting on this mentioned that some of these countries did receieve some advance warning but they decided to ignore them because they were afraid of frightening the tourists. It smacks of Fox sensationalism anyone know if this is true.

Sharp-kun · Post by **Sharp-kun** » 2004-12-28 10:51am

Soontir C'boath wrote:
From Recent Article wrote:But governments insisted they couldn't have known the true danger because there is no international system in place to track tsunamis in the Indian Ocean, and they could not afford the sophisticated equipment to build one.
And now paid in lives for the lack of it.

Would it really have made a huge difference? Would there have been enough time to warn and start evacuating people?

Soontir C'boath · Post by **Soontir C'boath** » 2004-12-28 10:59am

*sigh* Probably not. Instead there should be a hydralic wall system which will rise about thirty meters with a thickness of five meters to reflect the tsunami...which then might reach other nations.......stupid idea.

Chardok · Post by **Chardok** » 2004-12-28 11:17am

Soontir C'boath wrote:*sigh* Probably not. Instead there should be a hydralic wall system which will rise about thirty meters with a thickness of five meters to reflect the tsunami...which then might reach other nations.......stupid idea.

Replace wall with some kind of thick, metallic mesh, with small holes. and flexible. allowing some of the water to pass through, but absorbing ALOT of the energy of the wave. I think that would be desirable. Lessening the impact of said wave to something more...manageable.

Frank Hipper · Post by **Frank Hipper** » 2004-12-28 11:19am

It's a safe bet that this is going to relegate the Krakatau eruption of 1883 to a second rate legendary disaster.

CJvR · Post by **CJvR** » 2004-12-28 11:48am

Sharp-kun wrote:Would it really have made a huge difference? Would there have been enough time to warn and start evacuating people?

It would depend on how well organized the lokal authorities and population was. Nothing would have saved the Nicobars and Sumatra but given an hour to get people to ground ~20-30 meters above sea level is not impossible since it is hardly any long distance evacuations.

phongn · Post by **phongn** » 2004-12-28 11:51am

Supposedly the USGS determined tsunami formation within 15 minutes or so and were attempting to get out a warning since they recognized a possible tsunami formation. Unfortunately, they had no way of directly contacting those nations and the State Department couldn't reach them in time

CJvR · Post by **CJvR** » 2004-12-28 01:19pm

Latest casualty figures:

Indonesia: 27.000 dead & 100.000+ injured
Sri Lanka: 19.000
India: 11.000 dead, incl the Andaman & Nicobars where some 30.000 are still missing
Thailand: 1 473 confirmed but 700 more is likely. 700 are tourists and some 7000 total injured
Malaysia: 59 dead & 218 injured
Maldivas: 52
Somalia: 38
Burma: 34
Tanzania: 10
Bangladesh: 2
Kenya: 1

This nightmare might not stop on this side of 100.000

Admiral Valdemar · Post by **Admiral Valdemar** » 2004-12-28 02:13pm

phongn wrote:Supposedly the USGS determined tsunami formation within 15 minutes or so and were attempting to get out a warning since they recognized a possible tsunami formation. Unfortunately, they had no way of directly contacting those nations and the State Department couldn't reach them in time

The BGS also picked up tremors in Edinburgh before the major shockwaves hit. The total fatality count is easily 60k and over now.

The WHO is concerned now about diseases taking advantage of the event. They predict that number could double due to the likes of cholera and other water borne pathogens alone.

Even with the scale of death out of the way for one moment, the amount of infrastructure damage and cost to these nations is staggering. They say a decade worth of rebuilding may be needed in most of the worst hit places.

To say this overshadows 9/11 in terms of loss of life and damage is an understatement. I mean, the UN is looking at the biggest aid mission ever devised. This is a truly horrific week to remember.

I forgot to addthat Sir Richard Attenborough has possibly lost his granddaughter and mother in law and some more of his family. One of the ITV News reporters was also on holiday with his family in Thailand on the beach and they managed to just about survive and tell the tale (I notice CNN using the ITN reports rather than their own).

Post by **fgalkin** » 2004-12-28 02:36pm

In other news, Jet Li was injured in the tsunami

EDIT: But Arthur C. Clarke made it out fine

Have a very nice day.
-fgalkin

Admiral Valdemar · Post by **Admiral Valdemar** » 2004-12-28 02:55pm

I actually mentioned to my mum that Arthur C. Clarke lived in Sri Lanka and wondered if he was okay. Of course, the tragedy is the countless many who didn't make it, not the few celebrities who did.

phongn · Post by **phongn** » 2004-12-28 03:13pm

New York Times wrote:December 28, 2004

Powell Pledges More Wave Aid, Saying U.S. Is Not Stingy

By DAVID STOUT

WASHINGTON, Dec. 28 - The United States pledged an additional $20 million in aid today as Secretary of State Colin L. Powell indignantly rejected any suggestion that the American response to the Asian earthquake and tsunami catastrophe had been insufficient.

"The United States is not stingy," Mr. Powell said in a CNN interview, one of several in which he signaled that the United States' contribution to relief would be extensive. "We are the greatest contributor to international relief efforts in the world."

Mr. Powell also used the interviews to pointedly rebut comments on Monday by the United Nations humanitarian-aid chief, Jan Egeland, who said rich countries seemed to have forgotten how fortunate they were.

"We were more generous when we were less rich, many of the rich countries," Mr. Egeland, a Norwegian, said at a news conference. "It is beyond me why we are so stingy, really." Mr. Egeland went on to say that the Christmas season should remind Western countries "how rich we have become."

Today, Mr. Egeland said his remarks had been misinterpreted, that he was not referring to any particular country, and that the initial American contribution "is one of the most generous pledges so far."

Mr. Egeland was referring to the United States donation of some $15 million announced on Monday. Today, the State Department said the United States Agency for International Development had decided to send an additional $20 million, and that future contributions were certain.

When Mr. Powell appeared on CBS's "Early Show" this morning, the interviewer, Harry Smith, suggested that the initial $15 million "doesn't seem like very much money from the United States of America."

"Well, it's a start, Harry," Mr. Powell replied, noting that nine American reconnaissance planes and a dozen transport aircraft loaded with supplies were on their way to the stricken region.

The secretary said that $15 million was "an initial infusion of money to join the international relief effort." A State Department spokesman, Adam Ereli, said the decision to send an additional $20 million almost immediately was based on "what we understand the needs to be, what we think can be usefully used at the present time."

"Obviously, it's for the moment," Mr. Ereli said. "I wouldn't say it's final."

Asked on NBC's "Today" program whether the American contribution might reach $1 billion, Mr. Powell said he could not give a specific figure, but he implied that the final United States' contribution would far surpass what had been announced to date. "Clearly, the United States will be a major contributor to this international effort," Mr. Powell said, acknowledging that the overhaul effort would run into the billions.

Mr. Powell delivered the same message in an interview on ABC's "Good Morning America."

"We will do more," he said, adding that he wished Mr. Egeland had not said what he did. "I mean, the world is now responding to his catastrophe," Mr. Powell said. "The United States has given more aid in the last four years than any other nation or combination of nations in the world."

Noting that the extent of the disaster is still not known, Mr. Powell said, "we're still getting an assessment of what is needed, and it will take time for that assessment to be made, to see what nations can do for themselves, to see what the specific needs are, and then we will respond to those needs."

Stravo · Post by **Stravo** » 2004-12-28 03:27pm

I just saw the death toll upgraded to 50,000. Jesus.

CaptainChewbacca · Post by **CaptainChewbacca** » 2004-12-28 03:48pm

The dead now include one grandson of the King of Thailand.

CJvR · Post by **CJvR** » 2004-12-28 04:30pm

Stravo wrote:I just saw the death toll upgraded to 50,000. Jesus.

It is closer to 60 actually.

Gustav32Vasa · Post by **Gustav32Vasa** » 2004-12-28 04:46pm

CJvR wrote:
Stravo wrote:I just saw the death toll upgraded to 50,000. Jesus.
It is closer to 60 actually.

66000

dr. what · Post by **dr. what** » 2004-12-28 09:14pm

Asian Disaster May Affect Two Civil Wars

JAKARTA, Indonesia - Two of the world's longest-running civil wars are being fought on land devastated by Sunday's earthquake and tsunamis. In one conflict, the tragedy showed hopeful signs of bringing the two sides together; in the other, it appeared to be hardening the divisions.

Immediately after the quake struck, the warring sides in Indonesia's Aceh province agreed to put hostilities on hold, while government and rebel spokesmen in ethnically divided Sri Lanka accused each other of mishandling the response to the disaster.

Aceh and Sri Lanka suffered the most from Sunday's catastrophes, which killed people in 11 countries from Asia to Africa. The dead included at least 27,000 people in Indonesia and more than 18,700 in Sri Lanka — a majority of the total death toll of at least 52,000.

Indonesia's vice president said the count in his country alone could reach 50,000.

In Aceh province on the northern tip of Indonesia's Sumatra island, insurgents seeking independence have been fighting government forces since 1976. The conflict has killed 13,000 people, including at least 2,000 in the past year.

But after the weekend disaster, the rebel Free Aceh Movement ordered a cease-fire so relief agencies could deliver supplies.

The government also loosened restrictions that for years have stopped aid agencies and journalists from operating freely in the province.

"We're holding back," said Lt. Col. Ali Tarunajaya, an Aceh police chief. "We're not going to arrest the rebels. They're looking for members of their families, just like many of our police members are looking for theirs. We're all crying together."

In Sri Lanka, the response could not have been more different.

Government troops and Tamil Tiger rebels, who have clashed since 1983 over the ethnic minority Tamils' claim for a homeland, refused to work together despite a massive humanitarian crisis.

The Tigers control a vast part of Tamil-majority northeastern Sri Lanka as a virtual independent state with its own administration, police and judiciary. The government controls remaining areas.

A cease-fire between the ethnic Sinhalese majority and the Tamils was brokered by Norway in 2002, but peace talks broke down more than a year ago.

"Ideally a national calamity like this should lead to greater flexibility by both parties to find a common approach to address the humanitarian needs of the people," said Jehan Perera, a political analyst from the National Peace Council.

But a Tamil member of parliament, Joseph Pararajasingham, said government leaders discussing relief efforts "simply were not bothered about the plight of our people."

Military spokesman Brig. Daya Ratnayake said the government and military were doing what they could in areas under government control in the northeast.

"Even from a disaster like this they are trying to score points," he said of rebel statements criticizing the government.

President Chandrika Kumaratunga appealed for "all people across ethnic lines to unite at this very difficult time."

On Tuesday, the rebels conducted separate relief operations in areas under their control and made a separate appeal requesting aid from donor countries and U.N agencies.

"Assistance channeled through the Government of Sri Lanka has failed to reach the displaced in the northeast," TamilNet quoted the Tamil Rehabilitation Organization as saying.

"The present resources available ... are nowhere near sufficient to meet the huge crisis that has arisen, and we are faced with the prospect of an ever-increasing toll of the dead, outbreak of epidemics."

The situation is less tense in Indonesia, analysts said, because rebels control little territory and their shadow government has little say in the region.

As a result, relief officials in Indonesia said they did not expect rescue efforts to be affected.

"The indication is that there shouldn't be a problem," said Michael Elmquist, who heads the U.N. Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Jakarta. "We've been told that the vice president has instructed the air force to facilitate the arrival of foreign assistance."

Analysts said the military could use the relief effort to try to win the support of the 4.3 million people in the province, where soldiers are known for alleged brutality.

Ken Conboy, an Aceh specialist, said the disaster was unlikely to result in a resumption of peace talks but could provide opportunities for both sides to be more flexible.

The rebels have "taken some very serious losses over the past year, and they may be looking for a reprieve," Conboy said.

"This also might provide an opportunity for the government to rethink their Aceh policy and come up with something that is a bit more cerebral, rather than continuing the policy of a civil emergency without any game plan."
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Ah--humanity in action.....

Damaramu · Post by **Damaramu** » 2004-12-28 09:23pm

Amateur Video Footage of Incoming Tsunami.
* Recommended for Broadband users only!